Chapter 4: Waking Up

When Naruto left the Harunos' house, Kizashi returned to the living room with his wife and daughter.

"Dad, what took you so long?" Sakura asked.

"I just had a man-to-man talk with Naruto, you don't mind do you?" Kizashi answered, with confidence. Mebuki sighed.

"Dad! You didn't scare him right?" Sakura said, embarrassed.

"No dear, I was just kidding... Actually, I apologized for not being kinder to him when he was young, and I assured the doors of this house will always be open for him. He earned our respect." Kizashi stated, proudly.

"Sakura, you must know I agree with your father, Naruto brought you back safe, he has been great during the last months, we cannot ignore that" Mebuki said.

"It's fine mom... I know, I was just afraid dad would be overprotective" Sakura answered, now calmer.

"Don't worry dear, if he ever hurts you, I will deal with him" he said, almost joking.

"I don't doubt it dad," Sakura said, trying to sound convinced. Mebuki chuckled.

Then, each one went to do different things. Sakura went upstairs to take a bath, while her mother got to prepare dinner. Kizashi cleaned up the living room, and after that, he helped his wife in the kitchen. Not long after, dinner was set and ready, Sakura returned washed up, with fresh clothes, and the pink hair moistened. The Harunos enjoyed meal, and talked about the chaotic day in the village. Sakura told them that probably Kakashi would be elected Hokage, though this was no surprise. The only other candidate was Asuma, given his strength, kindness and heritage, but since his death three months ago, Kakashi became the most obvious successor for Tsunade. Shikaku considered himself too old for the job, and probably not powerful enough, same as Inoichi or Choza. Other qualified jonins like Genma, Raido, Ibiki or Anko, were not suitable for the position either. Those were some of the conversation themes currently at Konoha, as Kizashi and Mebuki heard when they were working. When they finished, they split chores like usual. Mebuki made dishes, Sakura dried them, while Kizashi cleaned up the table and the kitchen. Soon after, both women went to their bedrooms, while Kizashi stayed downstairs a little longer, as he had to finish some paperwork for his job. Sakura was ready to sleep after a long day, but then she saw her mother coming to her bedroom.

"Can I come in?" Mebuki said, standing in the doorway.

"Sure..." Sakura said, cuddling with the blankets.

Mebuki went to sit on the right side of the bed. "Listen, I know you're tired, but I need to ask you something before I go to sleep"

"It can't wait for tomorrow?" Sakura asked, pleadingly.

"I'm sorry... I don't think I'll be able to sleep if not" Mebuki said. Sakura looked down. "Listen sweetheart... I have to be blunt... two days ago, when you said about going on the mission... I know you lied" Mebuki stated, without showing anger or disappointment.

Sakura was baffled. "But how..."

"You know I'm no fool... I realized during our talk earlier. You said you split from Kakashi's group and then you went to seek Sasuke... but given your sensei and Naruto's late arrival... It means you were not supposed to be at the Land of Iron. Otherwise, why would Kakashi let you go off his watch? If your mission after the Kage Summit was to locate Sasuke, Kakashi would have sent Yamato with your team... I'm sure he would not commit such a mistake." Mebuki explained.

"Did you figure all that out just from what we talked about?" Sakura asked, startled.

"Of course... Never forget where you got your brains... Besides, Naruto never said you were there when he talked to the Kazekage" Mebuki reasoned.

"Are you mad?"

"No sweetheart, I'm past that... I'm glad you're safe, that's the most important thing... I just want to know why did you go there..." Mebuki said, nicely.

"I did it for Naruto... " Sakura said, looking down. She sighed, and looked back at her mother. "The others had decided to eliminate Sasuke... and I knew Naruto couldn't handle it, at least back then. Besides... Do you remember the promise he made me, three years ago?" Mebuki nodded. "Well, Sai figured Naruto felt obliged to fulfill it, no matter what. He said that Sasuke's actions were hurting him, and through the promise I was hurting him as well... because Naruto loves me. I felt guilty..." Sakura admitted.

"But given what you said in the last months, the promise didn't seem to matter anymore... You both were committed to bring that guy back, everybody was, the Hokage, Kakashi..." Mebuki said.

"I know... but I wasn't really sure. I thought that maybe he still cared about the promise, even if I told him otherwise at the hospital, three years ago... He can be pretty stubborn, you know. So I decided to stop him by going to the Land of Iron... What you told me before I left, helped me to realize that what Naruto and I have is real love... At least how it starts..." she sighed, deeply. "I thought I could convince him to return here with me and forget about Sasuke, but when I got there... he didn't believe me." Sakura explained.

"He didn't? Why?" Mebuki asked, clueless.

"He thought I was still in love with Sasuke... that my feelings couldn't change... maybe I chose the wrong words, or maybe I should have discussed it with him privately." Sakura pondered.

"Huh... so the talk was not private" Mebuki said, glaring at her.

"I'm not sure why I did that in front of the others... I guess I wasn't thinking clearly" Sakura was questioning herself.

"That's clear... so when he refused to return... that was the moment you decided to find Sasuke" Mebuki guessed.

Sakura nodded. "I had prepared some sleep bombs and a poisoned kunai with Shizune before leaving, just in case... that's how I left behind Kiba and the others... and my idea to kill Sasuke... a brilliant plan" she said, sarcastically.

"Oh dear... looks like none of you was thinking clearly that day..." Mebuki sighed.

"I know that now... but still... I had my reasons. I tried to protect Naruto, Kiba, (who was eager to fight Sasuke), Lee and Sai..." Sakura answered.

"I have no doubt... people can do crazy things for love..." she said. Then, she reasoned "You know... if you had killed Sasuke, Naruto could have ended up being mad at you"

"Yeah... but at least he'd be safe, and so would everyone else... now we can't be certain" Sakura said. Before her mother could guess what she was thinking, she added "He's still out there mom, just like that Madara"

"I know... but we can't live in fear waiting for the worst." Mebuki said, placing a hand on her daughter's cheek. "One last thing before I go... today, before coming... you could talk to Naruto, right?" she asked, gently.

Sakura nodded. "We talked after meeting our friends... It wasn't easy... but we reconciled... kind of... at least now he knows how I feel"

"I could tell sweetheart... like I said... love takes time... just don't push him, he had a hard childhood... he needs guidance" Mebuki explained. She carefully touched Sakura's forehead, remembering the reason why her daughter cried in the past. "And so you do" she added.

"Thanks mom, I love you" Sakura said, quietly.

"I love you too sweetheart" Mebuki answered.

Then, Mebuki stood up, and walked to the bedroom door, before turning to look at her.

"Mom? Will you tell dad?" Sakura asked.

"Don't worry.. He already knows enough... As long as you're safe, it doesn't matter" she said, smiling. "Now, you should get some sleep. Good night sweetheart" Mebuki muttered softly.

"Good night mom." Sakura answered. Her mother turned off the lights, and went back to the master bedroom. Sakura cuddled in bed, and started thinking about the events of the day, especially Naruto. He didn't say he loved her, but she didn't need to hear it. Just by looking at his eyes, she knew what he felt. With this and some other peaceful things in mind, she soon fell asleep.

Kizashi stayed up dealing with paperwork one hour after his wife and daughter went upstairs. Then, he joined his wife in bed, and soon, silence dominated the Harunos house, and most of Konoha. It was for the best, because the next day would be probably as hectic as the last ones.

In the morning, Kakashi Hatake was about to be proclaimed as the Rokudaime Hokage. The last day had been the meeting with the council and the daimyo, now, all that was left was the jonins approval. It was the final step. But before the reunion could begin, three hours before noon, something unexpected occurred. Shizune heard her master's beatings returning to normal, and then she awoke. The Godaime Hokage was back. Shizune reacted quickly, and ordered the necessary food supplies to restore Tsunade's health. Little by little, she regained color, strength, and the diamond seal reappeared. The announcement flew to the Hokage tower, so Kakashi rushed to the tent where the Hokage was recovering. The reunion to appoint him as the new leader was obviously suspended. Everything went back to normal, and as soon as the villagers learned the good news, they rejoiced. She had become a beloved figure for everyone, even more than before, since her noble sacrifice during Pain's attack.

Anyway, she needed to be updated about all that happened while she was in a coma. Shizune and Kakashi had to tell her everything: how Naruto defeated Pain, the resurrection jutsu (Rinne Tensei), the rebuilding of the village, the Raikage's message and Sasuke's crime, the Kage Summit, Danzo's appointment as Hokage, his performance at the Summit and later death, the infiltration of Akatsuki in the Land of Iron, Sasuke's fight with the Kages and subordinates, Naruto's trip, Sakura's decision, and the latest confrontation with Sasuke and "Madara". Shizune mentioned to Tsunade the issues at Konoha, while Kakashi told the events of the Land of Iron. He even revealed what Tobi said about Itachi, and Shizune was allowed to hear it with Tsunade's permission. Of course, all this took like an hour of talk. Once the Hokage learned everything she needed to know, she gave the immediate request to bring Naruto and Sakura. She scheduled the meeting with the council and the jonins for the afternoon, with the excuse that she needed the rest of the morning to recover. In the meantime, any urgency would have to be addressed while she was in the tent. Since everybody knew of the Hokage's temper, surely no one would dare to interrupt her "recovery". Only Yamato visited while she waited, and informed her about the progress in the rebuilding of the village. Tsunade ordered him to remain quiet about the truth of Itachi's actions, to make it official, and then, he went back to work.

Naruto was barely awake, lying on his bed, when he heard knocks on his door. He struggled to get up, not that he wanted to, and shouted when the knockings became more frequent.

"I'm coming" Naruto took off his pijamas, put on fresh clothes as fast as he could, and headed to the front door. When he opened it, he found Shikamaru standing on his doorway.

"Shikamaru?" he asked, surprised. "What are you doing here so early?"

"First of all... It's not early... and Secondly... Tsunade is awake, she wants to see you" Shikamaru answered, calmly as usual.

"She woke up? Really?" Naruto asked, excited.

Shikamaru nodded.

"That's great!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping in excitement. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this" he said, joyfully.

"Alright... just don't get so loud... you better hurry. It's gonna be another long day" Shikamaru sighed.

"Ok... I won't... just let me grab my jumpsuit and we'll go" he said, before going back to his bedroom. He put on his jacket, made a quick stop in the bathroom, and returned to the front door. Soon, the apartment was in silence again.

On the road, they didn't talk much, but Naruto noticed that Shikamaru seemed more serious than usual. He decided to break the silence.

"Shikamaru... about what I said yesterday" he started, but his friend interrupted.

"It's ok Naruto... I already talked to Choji. You're my friend... I trust you... I guess sometimes my cold thinking takes over..." Shikamaru muttered, quietly.

"I know what you say... My temper can get over me often too... I guess learning to control it is part of growing up" Naruto reflected.

"Yeah... It's weird... You seem wiser than usual, you know"

"Let's just say I had a good talk last night... with my sensei" Naruto admitted.

Shikamaru realized what he was talking about. Sometimes he could forget Naruto didn't really have someone to raise him. Remembering Asuma and his father's lessons, he spoke.

"We all need lectures here and then... huh?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto agreed, while they were still jumping through the roofs of buildings. Not long after, they reached the Hokage's tent.

At the Harunos, Sakura was still in slumberland when her father left early in the morning to work. He had breakfast with his wife, being as quiet as possible to not disturb their daughter's sleep. Mebuki was cleaning up the cups when she heard knocks on the front door. It was Ino.

The visits of the Yamanaka girl have been frequent during the last years. She and Sakura had resumed their friendship after their showdown during the preliminaries in the chunin exams. Later, Ino went to learn medical ninjutsu, so Sakura became her superior student. In other words, it wasn't weird for her to show up at the Harunos house in the morning. Mebuki was glad that Ino and Sakura were friends again.

She welcomed her as soon as she could, and asked her not to talk loud, since Sakura was still asleep. But when Ino revealed the motive of her visit, Mebuki realized it couldn't wait. Before going upstairs, Ino spoke. She knew it wasn't common for Sakura to be asleep at this hour.

"Why is she not up yet? She's usually awake early in the morning"

"Well you know the last days were pretty tough for her... She will need time to recover" Mebuki said gently.

"Recover from what?" Ino asked, clueless.

Mebuki saw her expression, startled. "You don't know? I thought Sakura had spoken to you and the others yesterday" Mebuki answered, trying not to raise her voice.

"She and Naruto told us about the Kage Summit, Danzo, and that they found Sasuke. He insisted he'd deal with him, and asked us not to interfere... But other than that... Did something else happen?" Ino asked.

"So none of you really know... Alright, please have a seat... and try not to shout" Mebuki gestured, pointing to the couch. Ino obeyed without questioning, getting worried.

When both sat, Mebuki told her the real truth of the events at the bridge in the Land of Iron. Ino was shocked by the revelation and stifled a scream.

"So that's why she was so saddened... I never thought... she almost..." Ino said, holding back the tears while imagining what would have happened if Sakura didn't come back alive.

"I know... Naruto brought her home and they told us everything... Listen, I can see why she didn't tell you... I did because you're her best friend... It's going to be hard for her to talk about it... In some ways, she blames herself... So please don't tell anyone else..." Mebuki muttered, softly.

Ino was looking upstairs, when Sakura's mother spoke again. "We better go to wake her up... It won't be good if we let the Hokage wait..."

Soon, they reached Sakura's room, and Mebuki sat on the side of the bed. She stroked her lightly, until Sakura opened her eyes.

"Mom?" she asked groggily. "What time is it?" She realized Ino was there. "Ino?"

The blonde girl was staring at her with a concerned expression.

"Sweetheart, I'm sorry but you gotta get up... Tsunade-sama is awake, and wants to see you" Mebuki explained.

"What? Really?" Sakura was surprised, and yawned.

"Yes... Ino is going with you... I have to go to work soon" Mebuki said, before standing up.

Sakura struggled to get out of the blankets, as she wished to stay in bed for a little longer. She was happy for the news, but now she wished her master could have awakened a few hours later.

Her mother helped her to find fresh clothes, they had to hurry, and after a stop in the bathroom, she got ready to leave. Ino was waiting at the top of the stairs, but didn't say a word. Before Sakura could ask why her friend was looking at her strangely, Mebuki spoke again.

"Listen sweetheart, I just told Ino what happened... so don't pretend in front of her" Sakura stopped, gazing at her friend. Both remained there silent, for a little while, until Ino spoke.

"It's ok Sakura... I won't talk about it if you don't want to" she said, before hugging her.

"Thanks Ino" she said quietly, accepting the embrace. Since she woke up, she hadn't thought about her almost death, but when her mother revealed that Ino knew now, it came back. The memory wouldn't go away so easily, so she didn't want to relive it. She suddenly felt glad to have a compassive friend.

Then, they broke the hug, and went to the door. When they stepped outside, Mebuki followed them.

"Please send my regards to the Hokage" she said.

Sakura nodded. "Bye mom... See you later" she said before leaving.

"Bye Mrs Haruno" Ino said, as they walked down the street.

Mebuki waved goodbye to them, before getting back into the house. Now it was her turn to get ready to leave.

Sakura and Ino barely talked on the road to the Hokage's tent. Instead, they went as fast as they could, to make up for the time it took to leave the house. When they arrived, Shikamaru and Naruto were already there, outside, waiting.

Sakura looked at her partner, he seemed more peaceful than the last day, and happier. She guessed that seeing Iruka had been good for him.

Naruto noticed that Sakura looked rested, as if she had slept for the first time in her life. He smiled at her.

Ino couldn't help but think about the events of the bridge. Kakashi and Naruto had stopped two murder attempts against Sakura, and here they were, all in the same place. She gazed at Shikamaru, and realized she had to hide that fact from him. If he knew, he'd get angrier against Sasuke, and would start questioning Naruto and Sakura. Now she had to protect them by keeping a secret.

"It's good to see you Sakura..." Naruto said. Then he turned to her friend. "You too Ino" he added.

"It's ok Naruto." Ino answered calmly.

"I'm glad to see you as well" Sakura said, with a grin on her face. Then she turned to Shikamaru, and greeted him.

"It's ok guys... now you two better get in there, otherwise our Hokage will start yelling" he sighed, glancing over at Sakura and Naruto.

"Good luck." Ino said, while they entered the tent.

Shikamaru knew that Kakashi was already there, and in the moment he received the order to bring Naruto, he figured Tsunade had been updated about everything. That's also why he felt compassion for the two, he knew that the Hokage really cared about them, and would be mad after learning the latest events. He even felt a little guilty because he pressured Sakura to accept the idea of eliminate Sasuke. He had recently realized that he should have dealt with it differently. In the heat of the moment he, Sai, and the others got carried away. Now he must let the Hokage take care of things, and help in the way he can.

AN: This chapter is shorter, and a little slow, but because the next one is going to be huge. In the first part I made a closure for Sakura's day with her parents, and the needed talk with her mother. Then, I placed Ino there because she is Sakura's best friend. She also had to know how low Sasuke fell. About why I chose her and Shikamaru to be the messengers, is because the meeting with Tsunade is supposed to be as secret as possible. They're close friends to Naruto and Sakura, trustworthy for the Hokage. Besides, team 10 is the second most important of the storyline.

To finish, if you are a fan, and if you remember well the events of Naruto and Shippuden, please don't miss next chapter. It will be long but worth reading. I suggest you to rewatch some anime episodes. Kishimoto owns the original story, and I've been recently doing this fanfic to make justice given the poor finale. Thank you all for reading.